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（上篇）英译汉的转换规律
汉英两种语言主要区别在于意合和形合。英语由于有众多的连接方式，句法结构上可以叠床架屋，盘根错节，句式显得非常冗长、复杂，但却又非常完整、严格。常用的连接方式有：1.连词，可以引导出多种主从复合句；2.动词的非谓语形式，如不定式、现在分词短语、过去分词短语；3.介词短语与其他的独立成分。正因为有多种形合手段作粘合剂，英语句式在逻辑次序安排、语义重心布置上比较自由、灵活，形态上像一串丰满的葡萄。而汉语一般不习惯用太长的句式，行文多用竹竿般的短句，语义信息按照一定的规律编成竹竿，再沿竹竿向前流去。汉语少用虚词，语义和逻辑关系通过语序体现。这就决定了汉语的行文安排不如英语那样自由灵活，所以很多翻译学习者对长句翻译深有恐惧情绪。在英语长句的翻译之中，万万不可根据语法成分的对应来决定汉语语序，否则译文常常是佶屈聱牙，不堪卒读。那么，在英语长句翻译中，有哪些规律可循呢？
一、叙事原则
汉语是临摹型语言，在叙说一组事件时，总是接“先发生在前，后发生在后”的顺序来组织句子，如：
1. Young Swain sneaked into the gallery one afternoon and blushed to the top of his ears when he saw"Trees Dressed in White", a loud raucous splash on the wall.
本句包含的动作有： sneaked， blushed，saw。接“先发生在前，后发生在后”的原则，
可译为：一天下午，年轻的斯威恩悄悄地进画廊。走到一幅题为“银妆之树”的画前，他发现那不过是一滩在墙上的墨迹，耳朵仿佛也被刺得嗡嗡直响。他的脸一下子红到了耳根。
2. There is nothing more disappointing to a hostess who has gone to a lot of trouble or expense than to have her guest so interested in talking politics or business with her hu *** and that he fails to notice the flavor of the coffee, the lightness of the cake, or the attractiveness of the house which may be her chief interest and pride.
女主人用了很多心思，也花了很多费用，准备好了香喷喷的咖啡和松软的糕点，并将屋内陈设装扮得极有特色。虽然她对此饶有兴趣并引以自豪，但她的客人对此却视若无睹，只顾与丈夫谈政治、谈生意。还有什么比这让她更失望的呢！
二、论理原则
汉语在很多情况下，是按照“原因在前，结果在后”、“前提在前，结论在后”的顺序来陈述因果关系的，但有些时候也将结果放前，原因放后做补充。具体如何安排原因和结果的位置，要看它们在整个语篇中和前后句子的搭配情况和句子的节奏平衡感。请看两例：
1. A long standing reticence, perhaps born of national abhorrence of monarchies and kings,kept faces and portraits off United States coins as a regular practice until 1909, the centennial of Abraham Lincolns birth.
句中的“ reticence”和“ silence”是近义词，意为“ reluctance”。句子的主干结构是：reticence kept faces and portraits off United States coins。在句子的前半部分中，“ perhaps born of national abhorrence...”和“ a long standing reticence”是因果关系，可以按论理原则来安排；综观整个句子，又可以用叙事原则来安排：
或许是出于国民长期以来对独裁和君主的增恨，美国人一直不情愿在线币上刻印肖像和人物。这一惯例一直持续到1909年，即亚伯拉军・林肯诞辰100周年时，才被打破。
2. Attracting specialized, career-focused students is one reason Stanford University Medical Center overhauled its curriculum and required students to pick a concentration by the end of their first year.
斯坦福大学重新训整了课程体系，并要求学生在第一学年结来时选择专业方向，其目的之一便是为了吸引想要细化专业、确定职业的学生。
三、空间视角、心理视角原则
我们在叙述一组空间上排列的事物时，一般是按照由近到远或由远及近的原则表达（具体选择哪一种，要视文章中人物的视角而决定）；在描述到一系列心理事件时，一般也是按照心理感触的过程来叙说。如：
The deserted mining village, protruding pitheads overgrown with tall trees and rusty refineries behind crumbling walls situated in valleys, were surrounded by thick wooded mountain slopes, hot springs gushing out here and there.
这个句子叙述者如果按照从村外向村里的视角方向，可以组织为：这个废弃的采矿村子四周群山环抱，山上树林密布，温热的泉水随处涌出；在山谷里面，突兀着的矿井回上长着参天大树，破败的屋墙后是锈迹斑斑的治炼设备。
四、对比原则
汉语在对比若干事项时，一般按照“铺叙在前，主旨在后”的原则，将要强调的事项放在后面，以便给读者留下深刻的印象。如：
1. Joan Werblun, volunteer executive director for Citizens for the Right to Know, said Stanfords experiment, if widely copied, could encourage specialization when managed healthcare uncreasingly "shuttles people to the general practitioner".
“市民有权知道”组织的志愿执行主任琼·沃布仓说，现在的管理医保制度不断推出的是普通医生；如果斯坦福的课程试验为众多学校效仿，则会促进专门医生的培养。
（本句之中 when managed healthcare increasingly“ shuttles people to the general practitioner”是表示美国现在的医疗情况，将它的译文放在前面作为铺叙，再将 if widely copied,could encourage specialization 即课程改革带来的新变化作为主旨放在后面形成对比，这样逻辑上就会清晰、明朗。）
2. Her (Mrs. Thatcher )rise, as she once described the star-is-born press coverage greeted her maiden speech in Commons, was"roses, roses all the way".
新闻界在报道她第一次在下院发表的演说并对其表示赞许时说她是一颗已经诞生的新星；撒切尔夫人在摘述这一报道时说，她是沿着一条“铺满玫瑰的路”冉冉升起的。
本句中难于处理的部分是 the star-is- born press coverage that greeted her maiden speech in Commons，语法成分上它虽然只是个宾语，但意义上却重重相叠。翻译时把这一部分放在句首当作背景，把撒切尔夫人的反应当作核心内容放于句末。
3. I, wrapt from him in a confused mist of time, was wondering what he could think, could he know that at this actual moment he would have been dead thirty years, and that his memory would be thus preserved and honored in the beloved school, where his delicate spirit had been so strangely troubled.
我对他的思绪沉漫在那繁跌不清的时间迷雾之中。我思忖着，在他逝世30年后的此时此刻，如果他能知道，在这受人爱戴的母校里，在这曾让他那敏感的心灵受到莫名扰动的地方，人们是这样怀念他、称誉他，他会作何感想呢？
将“人们对他的态度”放前、“他又会作何感想”放后，形成对比。
五、信息值比较原则
汉语在行文时，一般按照“低值信息在前，高值信息在后”、“已知信息在前，新知信息在后”、“确定信息在前，不定信息在后”的规则来陈述逻辑关系。如：
1. Physicians in training must learn a staggering array of facts required by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, North Americas accrediting authority for medical schools.
在北美，对医科学生确认行医资格的机构是医学教育联络委员会，它要求在学的医生必须熟记大量的材料。
（此句中 North Americas accrediting authority for medical schools 是 the Liaison Committee on Medical Education 的补充解释成分，信息价值最低；而本句中信息价值最高的部分在Physicians in training must learn a staggering array of facts，我们按照“低值信息在前，高值信息在后”的原则组织译文，读者觉得逻辑关系清断、中心突出。
2. Multitudes of bees used to bury themselves in the yellow blossoms of the summer squashes. This, too, was a deep satisfaction; although, when they had laden themselves with sweets, they flew away to some unknown hive, which could give back nothing in requital of what my garden had contributed.
成群结队的蜜蜂则喜欢一头扎进黄色的西葫芦花里。当它们载满了蜜汁，便会飞到那些我无从知晓的巢穴中，不再对我花园的奉献作任何酬答。而我，依然是深深的心满意足。
试比较：“成群结队的蜜蜂则喜欢一头扎进黄色的西葫芦花里。我也感到无比满意。当它们载满了蜜汁，便会飞到那些我无从知晓的巢穴中，不再对我花园的奉献作任何醐答。”我们发现，第一种译文强调的是“心满意足”，而第二种译文似乎在暗示读者这群蜜蜂只求索取，没有奉献。这是因为中国人往往采用“逐步进入 *** 式”思维模式，最后一点常常是核心信息；而英美人往往采用“ *** 出发式”思维模式，核心信息常常放在句首或句中，偶尔也放在句末。原文的核心信息或高值信息是 This was a deep satisfaction， although（尽管…）一词表明其后面部分的信息传递在发生转折，并且是对前面的补充说明，因而是低值信息。所以，按照“低值信息在前，高值信息在后”的原则，第一种译文准确地传达了原文的主题。
六，语篇连贯原则
在运用上述语序原则时，要照顾到长句内部以及与上下文的衔接和连贯，因而有时要作局部处理，如重复关键词、补充过渡信息或调整语序等等。如：
The existence of giant clouds was virtually required for the Big Bang, first put forward in the 1920s, to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the co *** os.
宇宙大爆炸理论是20世纪20年代首次提出来的，在解释宇宙起源的请多理论中，这一理论占着主导地位。而巨星云的存在说对于该理论又几乎是不可缺少的。
本句翻译时首先将顺译法不好处理的 first put forward in the 1920s 提在句首翻译，但在译 to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the co *** os时，如不补充若干过渡信息，句子便无法自然连贯，所以必须加上“在解释宇宙起源的诸多理论中”这一胞含信息作过渡。
最后，某些英语长句的结构是高值信息在前，低值信息在后，有时译文如果按照“低值信息在前，高值信息在后”的原则组织，位于前面的低值信息很难与前一句构成有意义连贯，那种情况下首先必须保证连贯，即将高值信息部分放前，低值信息部分放后作补充，使该长句与它前面的成分能有机连贯，整个句子便体现出顺译法的特点。
（下篇）汉译英时译文的简洁与精炼
英语语言的美，除了用词准确、形象以外，还体现为句式精炼、韵律均衡、节奏感强。汉英翻译学习者常常有译文啰嗦、臃肿的现象，而地道的英语是极力避免这一现象的。有句名言道： Brevity is the soul of wit。应该说，简洁是英汉语言所共同追求的目标，因为简洁的语言不仅在字面上能形成美的节奏和韵律，在字里行间它还能传达朴实、真切的感情，并指向深邃、幽远的意境。所以，我们的译文要尽力做到惜墨如金，达到 Every word counts。
通过我们的观察，汉英译文中不够简洁、精炼基本上由两种原因造成：一是语言基本功不够，不知道怎样对语言进行过滤、梳整、调合；二是过分依附于原文，虽然某些意义成分在译文之中已经表达出来，后面汉语中再出现时，不敢或者根本没意识到要对它作简化处理，这样译文便难以卒读。下面我们分别分析译者在简洁问题上所要注意的要点。
一、译者既要了解种类词，还要了解它之下的属类词，同时，还要擅长使用含有多个语义成分的词汇。
1.漫天的大火把夜空映了个通红。
The night sky was reddened by the sweeping fire.
2.一个面皮千瘪的老妪
a crone
3.从他那里渐渐探出了秘密。
I wormed the secret out of him.
4.我一时想不起这个词了。
The word escapes me at the moment.
5.这篇文章不太好理解。
The article is elusive.
6.那里的景色会让您大饱眼福。
The beautiful scenery will feast your eyes.
7.他怒气冲冲地对我们说。
He stormed/ roared/blustered at us.
8.家庭的贫因，使我无法再坚持学业。
Family poverty incapacitated me from further study.
9.他冒着饥饿的危险，跟几个同事毅然辞职了。
Braving hunger, he resolutely resigned with several colleagues.
10.有的老牛活活渴死了，因为身体里没有水分，牛皮都扒不下来。
Some cows died on their feet from dehydration. And because theres no moisture in their bodies, you can hardly skin them.
二、特定的短语也能使句子简洁、地道。
1.你要是跟我们在一起就好了！
If only you could be with us!
2.画笔之于画家有如钢琴之于音乐家。
The brush is to the painter what the piano is to the musician.
3.一半是因为劳累，一半是因为气愤，他病倒了。
What with overwork and what with indignation, he was laid up.
4.天气一会儿冷，一会儿热。
The weather is now cold, now hot.
5.有两家便宜的旅馆，若都不行的话，不妨还是回你从前住的地方去吧。
There are two cheap hotels, but failing either of these, you may as well go back to where you were before.
6.这本书不是一下子就能吃透的。
The book cannot be understood at one swoop.
7.他总是轻言细语地跟别人讲话。
He is always soft-spoken.
8.它的眼带出进退为难的神情。
The look in its eyes shows that the little creature is of two minds.
三、名词化结构往往包括动作行为的逻辑内涵，但句式表现却非常简洁。需要注意的是，名词化结构往往用于很正式的文体之中。
1.他贪污了大量公款，锒铛入狱了。
His egregious embezzlement led to his imprisonment.
2.由于无法弄到实验器材，实验进展起来非常困难。
The unavailability of apparatus rendered the experiment rather difficult.
3.我家和他家住得很近，路途上也方便，所以每月都要往来一次。
The convenient proximity between the two families enabled our monthly visit.
4.由于电信、传媒的发达，人们之间的联系日益紧密，地球仿佛成了地球村。
The sophistication of telecommunication and mass media brings about increasing interconnection among people and turns the globe into a village.
5.雨水一刻不歌地下着，运动会只好搁浅了。
The relentless determination of the rain wrecked the sports meeting.
6.这位老人举止优雅，可以看得出，他从前过着非常从容的生活。
The old mans graceful appearance betrayed his previous easy days.
四、为了保持语法结构的凝练，一般说来，能用词组、动词非谓语形式（如不定式、现在分词短语、过去分词短语）、垂悬结构的地方就倾向于不用从句，能用明了、简洁的结构的时候就倾向于不用复杂、臃长的结构，除非是为了达到特别的文体效果。
1.薰鱼： *** oked fish（请比较： fish that has been *** oked，后者啰嗦）
2.浆过的衣服 starched clothes（请比较： clothes that have been starched）
3.我在报纸上读到一篇文章，了解到盐是高血压的诱发因素。
I knew through a newspaper article that much intake of salt was an occasion of high blood pressure.（请比较： I read an article published on a newspaper and knew that...）
4.在学校里，哪个支系的学生多就使用哪种语言，但同一支系的学生相互交谈又使用本支系的语言。
In schools, the language of the branch with the majority of students dominates the conversation, yet students fom the same branch prefer their own language. (请比较:In schools, the prevalent language is the filiation that has the largest number of student speakers, yet students from otherwise same branch still talk in their own language. 不难发现，前一句充分体现出英语物称主语的特点，而 students from the same branch prefer their own language 寥寥数语，却将“但同一支系的学生相互交谈又使用本支系的语言”的意义交代得清清楚楚。）
5.这时迎亲队伍中的“长统”走出来，郑重其事地倒出竹里的水酒给小姑娘喝、并送上一些喜糖和喜钱。
The Changtong will come forward and please them with wine and tip them with candies and money.（请比较： The Changtong" will come out of the troop and solemnly pour out wine for them to drink, and give them some wedding candies and money.）
6.有的地方，新娘将要进入新郎家时，新郎家大门口要栽上香蕉树，意味子孙后代昌盛。同时还要栽上甘蔗，意味着新生活节节甜。
In some places, the bridegroom plants some banana trees and sugar canes in front of his house, the banana trees a wish for the prosperity of later generations, and the sugar canes a sweet sign of a happy life. (请比较: In some places, as the bride is to enter the bridegrooms home, banana trees are planted in front of the house praying for offsprings prosperity. Meanwhile, sugar canes are also planted with the hope that the new life is sweet in every section as the sugar cane.
7.（新娘）羞盖答答，不言不语，来到了一道路障前。
Shy and quiet, she finds herself in front of a road barrier.
8.人把它捕捉，将它制成标本，作为一种商品去出售，价钱越来越高。
People capture it, make a specimen of it and sell it in the market at increasingly high prices.
9.我不指望你出名，只愿你身体好，没病没灾的。
I dont expect you to be famous. All I want is for you to stay healthy, and safe from misfortune.
10.即使想起她，也是想起那个抱着刚满月的孩子，双膝跪在母亲面前的，脸色苍白，两眼盈泪的小姨。
The thought of aunt brought back her image as she knelt in front of Mother, her face pale and tearstained, her month-old infant in her arms.
11.他不多说话，但常常微笑。
He was a man of few words, but of all *** iles.
12.这是私人房产。房东并不因为它完全不像个样子就将房钱压得便宜些。
The house was privately owned, and the landlord would not reduce the rent however ramshackle condition of the structure.
五、和英语相比，汉语在形式上不太严密，这表现在有时字面意义和蕴涵意义的相隔，有时汉语句群中或句子中意义因素的相对重复。对此，译者要有清醒的认识，不可过于依附原文字面结构，而要对其中重复的语义因素进行剪裁、过滤、消肿。
1.当它合起两张翅膀的时候，像长在树枝上的一张干枯的树叶。谁也不去注意它，谁也不瞧它一眼。
When it closes its wings it resembles a withered tree leaf hanging from a branch——scarcely noticeable to the human eyes.（“谁也不去注意它，谁也不瞧它一眼”是语义重复，翻译时可以省去一个小句）
2.窗ロ下，会有几个摊点卖着西瓜什么的，在他们的头顶方向，是电信塔楼和城市报时钟。
Below the window were several melon stalls, and above them was the Telecom Tower with a big clock on top of it.（如果将“城市报时钟”按字面译为 topped with the turret clock telling the city time，译文将是臃肿不堪）
3.赫赛的重温天津之梦结束了。当我在车厢和他话别时，他满怀 *** 地说……
When Herseys visit to Tianjin was over and I got on board the train to say good-bye（“重温天津之梦”不可译为 the dream of visiting Tianjin，否则，不但会使译文增重还会使译文的意义发生改变。）
4.只要这个人看得起我们，我们就会将我们全家真挚的、充满敬爱和感激的情意奉献给这个人。
As long as that someone would meet us face to face, we would offer our most heartfelt gratitude and affection.（“真挚的、充满敬爱和感激的情意”不可照字面译为 sincere，respectful and grateful affection。）
5.母亲停止了切菜，转脸瞧着她说……
Mother stopped cutting cabbage and wheeled around.（“瞧着她说”根据上下文语境可以省去不译。）
6.三月里刘薰宇君来信，说互生病了，而且是没有希望的病。
In March I heard from Mr. Liu Xunyu that Husheng was sick and hopelessly at that.（ and hopelessly at that 就将“而且是没有希望的病”的语势简洁地表达出来，没有必要译为 and it was a hopeless sickness）
7.他办立达便饮食坐卧只惦着立达，再不想别的。
When he was running Lida School, he had all his thoughts on the school,whatever he dd.（“饮食坐卧”不可按字面译为 when eating， sitting or sleeping）
8.你刚开口说由哪儿来的时候，一杯很热的浓茶，就在你的下巴上。
Scarcely have you begun to tell them where you come from when a cup of hot and strong tea is handed over to you.（“递在你的下巴上”如果译为 hand over to your chin，不但复杂，让英语读者也觉得唐突。）
9.不同的支系的青年男女恋爱叙衷肠时，男子往往主动使用女子支系的语言，以示爱慕之心。
When a boy is in love with a girl from a different branch, the boy usually speaks in the girls language voluntarily to show respect（请比较：如果译成 when a boy and a girl，who are from different branches, are in love with each other, the boy usually speaks in the girl s language voluntarily to show his respect.则过分贴附于字面了。）
10.忆昔当年，日寇强敌入境，山河破碎，风雨飘摇。日寇军间穷凶极恶，遣无数本国精壮，到海外屠杀无辜……
During the war, the atrocious Japanese militarists sent Japanese armies to China to slaughter the innocent people, bringing the country to the point of disintegration. （译文中“山河破碎，风雨飘摇”译为 bringing the country to the point of disintegration 即可，没有必要分别译出两个短语。）
